One of the "Fire Eric Holder" protesters standing outside the White House. (Photo: CampusReform.org/Josiah Ryan)

The Secret Service stopped a group of about 50 college students who were leading a protest demanding President Barack Obama fire Attorney General Eric Holder in front of the White House today.  Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan told The Politicker the protesters were removed because there was a suspicious package.

"There was an unattended package left in proximity to the fence line which resulted in the sidewalk being cleared for safety reasons until the owner could be located," Mr. Donovan said. 

One of the protesters told the blog Campus Reform that "the discovery of the 'unidentified package' came just as the protest began to gain traction." Mr. Holder was cited for contempt of Congress Thursday for refusing to turn over documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious, a botched gun trafficking investigation that resulted in over 1,000 illegal guns getting lost in Mexican. One of these weapons was later linked to the shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Members of the delegation of New York elected officials in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.

A delegation of elected officials from New York is currently in Washington D.C. to express their concerns about the NYPD’s controversial stop and frisk policy and ask the Department of Justice to investigate the program as a civil rights violation.

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Politicker that Attorney General Eric Holder met with leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday to discuss the issue. A source on Capitol Hill also told us that, at that meeting, Mr. Holder expressed his interest in investigating stop and frisk.

Officially, Mr. Holder and the Department of Justice have not made any decision about whether they will investigate the program, which resulted in a record 684,330 people being stopped last year, the vast majority of whom were minorities. Councilman Jumaane Williams, who was part of the delegation that traveled to Washington, told The Politicker the Department of Justice is considering several options.

"It seems to be more a question of finding a way for them to do something than if they will do something," Mr. Williams said. "I was asking for them to do three or four things; a full investigation of the NYPD, being an intervener or filling an amicus brief or letter of support when it comes to the litigation against stop and frisk or to help us and find some way to support us on any of the legislative solutions were working on on the city and state levels. They didn't balk at any of it, they're interested in all of it."

Mr. Williams also said there were "no commitments made" and that the Department of Justice seemed to be looking for options other than a full-fledged investigation.

"One thing they said is that an investigation can be very lengthy and they might want to do something sooner rather than later," said Mr. Williams.

Mr. Holder previously discussed a potential stop and frisk investigation when he was questioned about the policy by Bronx Congressman José Serrano.

"We have looked at a variety of, 18 is the number now, of police departments who have engaged in practices that are inconsistent with the way in which they're supposed to serve the people that they represent," Mr. Holder said. "If we find that this is a problem in New York, it is something that we will investigate. It is something, at this point, that I don't think that we have an open investigation, but it is not something that we are not cognizant of."

If Mr. Holder does launch an investigation into stop and frisk, it will not be his first investigation of the NYPD. In March, he launched an investigation into the department's controversial Muslim surveillance program.

As of this writing, neither the NYPD or the Attorney General's office has responded to requests to comment on this story.

Members of the stop and frisk delegation including State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Councilwoman Mellissa Mark-Viverito and Assemblyman Karim Camara meeting with officials in Washington.

A number of New York City and State elected officials are in Washington D.C. this afternoon to address their concerns about the NYPD's controversial stop and frisk policy. They are calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the NYPD's use of stop and frisk as a civil rights violation.  The NYPD stopped a record number of people last year, the vast majority of whom were minorities.

“New Yorkers are fed up with this policy that continually targets our communities,” Assemblyman Karim Camara, Chairman of the New York State Black Puerto Rican Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus said in a statement. “The numbers tell a tragic story. One recent report said that more young black men were stopped than actually lived in the city.  We cannot get away from the fact that there is implicit racial bias in this tactic used by the NYPD.  Since City officials refuse to listen, we are taking our cause to Washington.  It’s time for some high-powered back up to advocate for the civil rights of New Yorkers.”

The delegation is holding closed-door meetings with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus. They also delivered a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

“Last year alone, New York City Officers stopped 684,330 people under the stop-and-frisk policy. This amounted to a 14 percent jump from the previous year. Even more shocking is the 600 percent increase in stops made since the data collection began in 2002," the letter said. "Most of those who are stopped are not arrested or even issued a summons; further igniting concern that the policy amounts to nothing more than racial profiling and harassment.”

Members of the delegation included Mr. Camara, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, Congressman Charlie Rangel, Mr. Rangel's primary opponent in the 13th District, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Councilman Jumaane Williams and several other members of the State Legislature and New York City Council.

"'Stop and Frisk' is an assault on the civil rights of New Yorkers," said Mr. Espaillat, who is Chair of the State Senate's Latino Caucus. "It harms law and order by creating distrust between police and local communities; it violates the civil liberties of individuals who are stopped without rhyme or reason; and it violates every notion of justice and due process our society is built on. The Federal Government has an important role to play in protecting the rights of citizens and we are calling on the Justice Department to step in and stop this unconstitutional and unjust practice from continuing."

Ray Kelly (Photo: Getty)

A group of 110 advocacy and activist organizations teamed together to send a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder today asking him to investigate whether the NYPD violated the constitutional rights of American Muslims with its widespread Muslim surveillance program. Signatories of the letter included; the New York Chapter of the NAACP, Occupy Wall Street, Muslim Advocates, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and the Muslim Bar Associations of New York, D.C., Florida, Southern California and Chicago.

"The NYPD appears to have targeted individuals and communities for surveillance based upon nothing more than their faith. Such measures are just the latest manifestation of the NYPD’s discriminatory practices against racial, religious, and ethnic minorities," the letter said. "In light of the breadth of information now available, we strongly urge the Department of Justice to commence a prompt investigation into NYPD surveillance of Muslims in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, including determining whether potentially unlawful surveillance continues."

The NYPD Muslim surveillance program gained widespread attention following the publication of a series of articles in the Associated Press. In the letter to Mr. Holder, the signatories also criticized the department for airing a controversial allegedly Islamophobic film, "The Third Jihad," which featured an interview with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.

"The NYPD’s improper targeting of innocent Muslims is compounded by its use of a film entitled The Third Jihad. This offensive film falsely depicts Muslims as violent people seeking world domination and was shown continuously at police headquarters, and viewed by an estimated 1,500 officers. Moreover, the producers of the bigoted film conducted a ninety-minute interview with Commissioner Raymond Kelly," the letter said.

Earlier this month, Mr. Holder said he found the reports of the NYPD's Muslim surveillance "disturbing" and was reviewing them at the Justice Department.

"At least what I’ve read publicly, and again, just what I’ve read in the newspapers, is disturbing," Mr. Holder said. "And these are things that are under review at the Justice Department."

Mr. Holder has also been contacted by 34 members of the House of Representatives asking him to investigate the matter. In the letter to Mr. Holder today, the signatories said they had been unable to get officials at the local level to take action.

"Attempts at seeking accountability for the NYPD at the state level have been unsuccessful. With Governor Cuomo’s support, New York State Attorney General Schneiderman recently declined to pursue an investigation, and Mayor Bloomberg has repeatedly defended the NYPD’s monitoring of Muslims as legal and constitutional," the letter said. "It is deeply disturbing that these officials, who are charged with protecting our civil rights and liberties, appear unwilling to hold the NYPD accountable for its abusive policing practices."

Mr. Kelly was grilled on the surveillance program and the "Third Jihad" movie during a tense City Council hearing last Thursday. Some Muslim groups have spoken out in support of the NYPD. Earlier this month, Congressman Peter King held a rally with a handful of representatives from Muslim organizations in favor of the police department's surveillance efforts.

Read the full letter to Mr. Holder below.

March 19, 2012

The Honorable Eric Holder

Attorney General of the United States

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Holder:

The undersigned civil rights, faith, community, and advocacy groups write to express our deep concern regarding the New York Police Department’s (“NYPD”) well-documented and blanket surveillance of Muslim communities in America without any suspicion of wrongdoing. The NYPD appears to have targeted individuals and communities for surveillance based upon nothing more than their faith. Such measures are just the latest manifestation of the NYPD’s discriminatory practices against racial, religious, and ethnic minorities. In light of the breadth of information now available, we strongly urge the Department of Justice to commence a prompt investigation into NYPD surveillance of Muslims in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, including determining whether potentially unlawful surveillance continues.

Since August 2011, the Associated Press has released a series of reports, based on the NYPD’s own documents, about one or more NYPD intelligence gathering programs that specifically targeted Muslims. Based on information released to date, the department has surveilled and collected intelligence about approximately 350 mosques, schools, businesses, and individuals, without any apparent evidence of criminal activity, between at least 2005 to 2008. As part of mapping programs that targeted Muslims’ ethnic and national origin throughout New York City, the NYPD maintained a list of “ancestries of interest,” targeted neighborhoods with large Muslim populations, and created maps identifying the religious sect and “ethnic compositions” of Muslim religious organizations, and the ethnicity and national origin of the owners and employees of business frequented by Muslims. The NYPD also sent officers or informants to compile daily reports about Muslim patrons who visited specific cafes and clubs. The range of the NYPD’s surveillance also extended to mosques, community centers, and organizations in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia. In October 2011, it was revealed that undercover NYPD officers infiltrated Muslim student associations at eight college campuses in New York. The NYPD has visited the websites, blogs, and forums of Muslim student associations on twelve campuses “as a daily routine” and informants or undercover agents have recorded students’ personal information and taken notes on how frequently students prayed. Most recently, documents show that the NYPD monitored businesses owned by second and third generation Americans because the owners were Muslim.

The NYPD’s improper targeting of innocent Muslims is compounded by its use of a film entitled The Third Jihad. This offensive film falsely depicts Muslims as violent people seeking world domination and was shown continuously at police headquarters, and viewed by an estimated 1,500 officers. Moreover, the producers of the bigoted film conducted a ninety-minute interview with Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The enormity of the NYPD’s baseless and blanket surveillance operations, which cast suspicion on an entire faith community, and Commissioner Kelly’s own participation in an interview for an offensive and hateful film about Muslims, paint a disturbing picture of NYPD attitudes regarding Muslims. Furthermore, the use of widespread ethnic, racial, and religious profiling to subject religious institutions, schools, businesses and individuals to intelligence gathering is a threat to the rights of everyone. It creates distrust and suspicion among vulnerable communities and sends the chilling message that the NYPD will not act in accordance with the right to be free from unwarranted police scrutiny–a message the NYPD has also been sending by disproportionately subjecting people of color to its aggressive stop-and-frisk practices.

In September 2011, U.S. Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) brought these issues to your attention by requesting an investigation into the NYPD’s blanket surveillance of the Muslim community. Then, in December 2011, thirty-four Members of Congress expressed similar concerns and requested an inquiry into the matter. Most recently, in February 2012, Senator Robert Menendez also reiterated the dire need for a Department of Justice investigation of the NYPD. To date, the Civil Rights Division has neither scheduled nor announced an imminent investigation.

Attempts at seeking accountability for the NYPD at the state level have been unsuccessful. With Governor Cuomo’s support, New York State Attorney General Schneiderman recently declined to pursue an investigation, and Mayor Bloomberg has repeatedly defended the NYPD’s monitoring of Muslims as legal and constitutional. It is deeply disturbing that these officials, who are charged with protecting our civil rights and liberties, appear unwilling to hold the NYPD accountable for its abusive policing practices. As a result, Muslims are being sent the message that the government officials entrusted with protecting their rights will not do so, and furthermore, these officials will not investigate allegations of police misconduct.

In light of the failure of state and local officials to act in response to the NYPD’s abusive conduct, it is critically important that the federal government vindicate our society’s commitment to equal justice under the law and the prohibitions against targeting communities and individuals based solely on their religion, ethnicity, or national origin. We strongly urge the Civil Rights Division to commence an immediate investigation of the NYPD’s past and current practices to identify whether it has violated, or continues to violate, the Constitutional, federal or state law rights of Muslims, including their rights to equal protection of the law, free exercise, and association.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Advocacy for Principled Action in Government

Alliance for Justice

Amal Law Group, LLC

American Arab Forum

American Muslim Voice

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) - Michigan

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) - National

Anjuman-e-Asghari

Arab American Association of New York

Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS)

Arab Muslim American Federation

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)

Asian Law Caucus

Association of Muslim American Lawyers (AMAL)

Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC)

Black Unity

Campaign for Peace and Democracy

Capitol Area Muslim Bar Association

Center for Constitutional Rights

Center for Media and Democracy

Center for National Security Studies

CLEAR - Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility, City University of New York School of Law

Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC)

Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan (CIOM)

Council of Shia Professionals

Council on American Islamic Relations

Council on American Islamic Relations - New Jersey

Council on American Islamic Relations - New York

Counselors Helping (South) Asians/Indians, Inc. (CHAI)

Daya Inc.

Defending Dissent Foundation

DRUM - Desis Rising Up & Moving

EMERGE

Fellowship of Reconciliation

Florida Muslim Bar Association

George Crawford Black Bar Association

Georgia Association of Muslim Lawyers (GAML)

Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition

Hindu American Seva Charities

Houston Shifa Services Foundation, Inc.

Imam Hussain Islamic Center

Imam-A-Zamana Foundation of North America

Imamia Medics International

Independent Viewpoints

Indian Muslim Relief & Charities (IMRC)

Interfaith Alliance

Interfaith Center of New York

Iranian American Bar Association

Islamic Ahlul Bayt Association (IABA)

Islamic Association of The Finger Lakes

Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati

Islamic Center of Long Island

Islamic Center of Zahra-SA

Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)

Islamic Information Center (IIC)

Islamic Society of Corona-Norco

Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH)

Jews Against Islamophobia

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice

Judson Memorial Church, NYC

Majlis Ash-Shura (New York)

Masjid Darul Qur’an

Muslim Advocates

Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA)

Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition

Muslim American Community Association

Muslim American Society of New York (MAS-NY)

Muslim Bar Association of Chicago

Muslim Bar Association of New York

Muslim Bar Association of Southern California

Muslim Center of Middlesex County, Piscataway, NJ

Muslim Civil Liberties Union (MCLU)

Muslim Consultative Network (MCN)

Muslim Law Students Association - New York University School of Law

Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA)

Muslim Peace Coalition USA

Muslim Progressive Traditionalist Alliance

Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)

Muslim Students Association National

Muslims for Peace, Inc.

NAACP New York State Conference

National Bar Association, Region II

National Muslim Law Students Association

National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC)

New England Muslim Bar Association

New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association

New Jersey Peace Action

New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Noor Kids Children's Islamic Books

Northern California Islamic Council

Occupy Wall Street, by consensus of the General Assembly in Liberty Plaza, New York City, March 17, 2012

Orange County Islamic Foundation (OCIF)

Organization of North American Shia Ithnasheri Muslim Communities

Pakistani American Bar Association

PAKPAC

Rights Working Group

Rochester Black Bar Association

SABA Islamic Center

Sakhi for South Asian Women

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Somali Action Alliance

South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)

South Asian Bar Association of New York

St. Mary's Episcopal Church - West Harlem

Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition

The Arab American Family Support Center

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation

The Muslim Political Prisoner Defense Committee Inc.

The Rt Rev. John Bryson Chane, 8th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington DC

The Shalom Center

The Sikh Coalition

Universal Muslim Association of America (UMAA)

University of Pennsylvania Muslim Students Association

USPAK Foundation

Women Against Islamophobia and Racism

Women In Islam Inc.

Peter Vallone Jr.

In a post on his Facebook wall last night, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. slammed Attorney General Eric Holder for weighing in on the controversy over the NYPD's widespread surveillance of the Muslim community. Mr. Vallone cited Mr. Holder's role in the "Fast and Furious" scandal where the ATF lost guns used in a sting operation and said the attorney general has no business criticizing the NYPD.

"just heard AG Holder is 'concerned' about the NYPD . really? you're concerned about surveillance that anyone with a computer and a car could do but apparently unconcerned that you 'lost' 2000 firearms to drug dealers and terrorists to use against the NYPD???," Mr. Vallone wrote.

On Thursday, Mr. Holder said he was disturbed by reports the NYPD spied on Muslims in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Officials in New Jersey have expressed dismay they were unaware of the NYPD's investigations in that state. Mr. Holder made his comments on the NYPD's Muslim surveillance program during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee when Democratic New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg asked how a law enforcement agency could investigate residents of another state without notifying local authorities. Mr. Holder said the Justice Department is "in the process of reviewing the letters that have come in expressing concerns about those matters."

"At least what I've read publicly, and again, just what I've read in the newspapers, is disturbing," Mr. Holder said. "And these are things that are under review at the Justice Department.

Mr. Vallone's invocation of Fast and Furious is further evidence of the Queens Councilman's uniquely conservative position within his party. The Fast and Furious investigation is a favored topic of right wing politicos, but it's rare to see the scandal referenced by a New York Democrat like Mr. Vallone.